An Almost True Story – Romance On The Rails In Transylvania (Lost Lands #215)

I love drama, and I realize many people will find that statement alarming. In the world in which I live, drama has a bad reputation. People tend to equate drama with workplace or relationship conflicts and gossip, stirring up trouble for no logical reason, overreacting to anything out of the ordinary or even worse, making something up to elicit emotion. That is not the drama I am talking about. Travel is the drama I prefer.

The first thing that travel usually brings to mind for most of us is spectacular scenery. And what could be more dramatic than the scenery in Transylvania. Pine scented forests covering mountainsides as far as the eye can see, meadows carpeted with wildflowers, verdant green grasslands stretching towards the horizon, crystal clear lakes turned silver by sunlight, foliage turned infinite shades of gold in the autumn, alpine landscapes turned blindingly white during the winter. That is the kind of drama people love to experience. And that is not the kind of drama I am talking about today. Nature’s bounty is only there to act as a backdrop.

Upon Reflection – Mirror Images

On a winter day in the early 20th century, the Somes River Valley was about to be consumed by a snowstorm. The railway stations in Bonchida (Bontida), Kolozsvar (Cluj), and Banffyhunyad (Huedin) are the only shelters for passengers heading westward on the line towards King’s Pass. This was the setting for a human drama in the lost lands beyond Hungary’s borders that may or may not have happened. There is evidence in fictional form that it did. The scene is one of hundreds in Miklos Banffy’s The Transylvanian Trilogy (They Were Counted, They Were Found Wanting, They Were Divided). That scene resonates with me because I love drama and what could be more dramatic than to be on a train through Transylvania in the middle of a snowstorm. Add in a romance beginning to elude the grasp of a lover, and this almost true story must be told.

A few nights ago, I did a digital search through the text of Banffy’s Transylvanian Trilogy to find each time Kolozsvar (Cluj) was mentioned. I not only read the sentences with Kolozsvar in them. I also read the passages for greater context. This was pleasurable if a bit confusing. I found it hard to keep the multitude of characters straight. It has been years since I read the three volumes in their entirety. I was still familiar with the main characters and the trilogy’s narrative arc. This did not surprise me as much as the fact that I remembered how I felt while reading the passages. In any book where we find a reflection of ourselves, there will be certain passages that speak to us on an intensely personal level. Passages that leave us spellbound as they produce images in our mind. Those images become a mirror in which we look back at ourselves. These passages make us swell with emotion. They put us in touch with something elemental that secretly resides in our souls.

Frozen Hearts - The Depths of Winter

So it was when I came to an entry in the second volume, They Were Found Wanting, where Kolozsvar was mentioned. At the time, I was looking for insights Banffy may have provided about life in the city. There were plenty about the aristocracy socializing and the lavish balls held during the winter. The entry that spoke to me had nothing to do with these. Instead, it had to do with the railway station and train travel amid the depths of winter. A time when stormy weather framed a memorable scene and the main character’s longing for a faltering romance became all the greater.

Eight days later Countess Abady and her son left Denestornya. When they boarded their sleeper at Kolozsvar the station was enveloped in rain and sleet. During the first part of their journey it started to snow heavily and at Banffy-Hunyad the train waited for some time while the snow plough was fitted. During this stop Balint, who up until then had sat in his mother's compartment chatting, got up and went into the corridor. He leaned out of the window to look at the snow and also to say a mute farewell to the station that was always associated with his visits to Adrienne. Thick snowflakes were falling, covering everything with a soft carpet of white. At Almasko it must be snowing too, thought Balint as he closed the window and went back to his own compartment to get ready for bed.

Miklos Banffy almost certainly wrote this scene based upon his personal experience. He uses the weather to heighten the drama. Transylvania is a wild country, where the weather can worsen at a moment’s notice. Most of us never get to see this side of Transylvania, preferring to travel there during the warmest months of the year. I have visited Transylvania in the spring, summer and early autumn, but never in the winter, let alone during a snowstorm. Is there anything more evocative than a station or rail siding in the snow? In the scene, Balint Abady is caught up in a storm that swirls all around him. This is a metaphor for his relationship with Adrienne Miloth. Amid the tumult he sees beauty, much like the elusive love that always hangs between them.

Balint’s train is stuck at the same station he used to depart from when visiting Adrienne at the Almasko estate. The more tragic truth is their relationship is faltering for reasons beyond their control. Just like Balint is helpless to do anything about the storm he is stuck in, so too is he helpless to stop the decline of his romance with Adrienne. The railway station offers a brief respite in the storm, but it does nothing to contain the raging tempest. The journey is at nature’s mercy, just like Balint and Adrinne are at the mercy of circumstances beyond their control.

Inherent Drama – A Life Affirming Romance

For me, this scene shows that the best literature is a super charged metaphor for life. Fiction is an alternate form of reality, one that is closer to the truth than we care to admit. Drama is inherent to the human condition and romantic relationships are an illustration of it. Miklos Banffy knew this all too well. He was an author, artist, and a lover. His writing was the product of a uniquely human experience. How many times had he sat in a train carriage at the station in Kolozsvar or Banffyhunyad (Huedin) pondering his lifelong romance with Baroness Carol Szilvasy? How many times had he hoped that one day they would marry? How many times had he been stuck amid snowstorm at a railroad siding in the mountains of Transylvania and stared out at a landscape blanketed In snow while contemplating circumstances beyond control. Mystical and mysterious, heartachingly beautiful, filled with drama. A life affirming romance, that while it lasted was the most precious and fragile thing in the world.